Looking back at our exhibition game this past Friday against the USA Under-18 National Development Team, we got a lot out of the game that we wanted to. First, all three of our goalies played well, but especially Andrew Lindgren and Mac Berglove, who both stood on their heads in their periods and should be riding a lot of confidence moving into the final stretch of MIAC regular-season hockey. I felt that playing a team with that much skill will really help us moving forward. Most importantly, we escaped the game healthy so we are looking good moving into February.
With six games left in the season and all six games against teams currently in the playoff picture, it feels a lot like playoff hockey already. Our next six games are against Augsburg (February 1-2), St. Thomas (February 9-10) and Gustavus (February 16-17). All three of those teams, including Saint John’s, make up the top four teams in the MIAC.
There are a number of ways to look at our schedule. The way we choose to look at it is that when we have success in this final regular-season stretch of games we will have a lot of confidence moving into the playoffs, having just finished up a tough stretch against some of the top teams in the MIAC. The key to success in this six-game stretch is to play one game at a time.
The first game of this stretch is this Thursday night at 7pm at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. We play the current leader in the MIAC, Augsburg. Augsburg just came off a split with St. Olaf and only have four games remaining in their season. If we have success against them this weekend we could put them in a real touchy spot moving into their last two games. It is amazing that a team can go from first place to out of the playoffs in a matter of three weeks and four games, but anything is possible in the MIAC.
All of our games against Augsburg seem to be physical, competitive and tough. We have to be mentally prepared for a close battle this weekend. It is an exciting time of year for MIAC hockey and we hope to see you in the rink at one of the games soon.
Finally, I would like to remind you once again that we are having an alumni gathering the final weekend of the regular season. We are having an alumni game and a social prior to our last regular-season game of the year on February 17th against Gustavus. The alumni game will start at 2pm at the National Hockey Center and will be followed with a meal and social at the rink. For more information or to register for the alumni game please follow this link: Johnnie Hockey Alumni Game and Social.
I look forward to seeing you at the rink! Go Johnnies!!
Coach Doug Schueller
